Western Art celebrates the American West, including the wild places and wildlife that grace the land. The Briscoe Western Art Museum is transforming into a photographic zoo this fall, showcasing the beauty of the West and the animals that call it home in Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild, an exhibition containing forty of the renowned nature photographer’s most resonant photographs—images that take viewers on a journey across the West and around the globe. The exhibition will be on view at the Briscoe September 30, 2022 – January 29, 2023, and is included with museum general admission. (Briscoe Western Art Museum, 2022)

The photographer personally selected forty classic photographs, which he refers to as his legacy photographs, for this retrospective exhibition making its Texas debut in San Antonio. Among photographs which members of the public will certainly be familiar with are “Polar Dance,” of polar bears appearing to dance, “Mountain Outlaw,” a grizzly bear charging through the snow, and “Catch of the Day,” which captures the exact moment that a spawning salmon, trying to leap over a waterfall along Alaska’s Brooks River, soars right into the waiting jaws of a massive brown bear. The image is not only one of the most widely circulated wildlife photographs in history, but also a monumental achievement in photography because it occurred before the advent of digital cameras and involves no digital manipulation.

Not all photographs in the exhibit, some of which measure 10 feet across, are of bears. The exhibition is truly a photographic zoo, with subjects captured in their native Western habitats include American bison, Arctic fox, bald eagle, black bear, bobcat, bohemian and cedar waxwings, brown bear, coyote, great gray owl, grizzly bear, ground squirrel, kestrel, moose, mountain lion, and Sandhill crane. Fantastic landscapes include Alaska’s Denali range and the Great Smoky Mountains, as well as fields of poppies and lupine and forests of redwood and aspen.

One of the most prolific nature photographers of our time, Mangelsen has been described as a spiritual descendant of pioneering American nature photographers Ansel Adams, Eliot Porter, and Edward Weston. Bill Allen, the now retired Editor-in-Chief of “National Geographic,” considers Mangelsen to be one of the most important nature photographers of his generation.

The photographer is as much a conservationist as he is an artist. He was named the 2011 Conservation Photographer of the Year by “Nature’s Best Photography,” placing his work in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He was named one of the 40 Most Influential Nature Photographers by “Outdoor Photography,” and one of the 100 Most Important People in Photography by “American Photo” magazine. The North American Nature Photography Association has named him Outstanding Nature Photographer of the Year, while the British Broadcasting Corporation gave him its coveted, prestigious award, Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Mangelsen has traveled to the wildest corners of North America, Africa, and beyond, for more than 40 years and produced a body of work second to none. At a time when digital technology is, notoriously, conditioning users to have shorter attention spans, A Life In The Wild stands as a testament to the rewards that can come to those, like him, who get close to nature.

To mark the exhibition’s opening, the Briscoe is hosting a preview party on September 29, followed by an opening weekend event that features an urban nature walk.

Opening weekend events include:

• Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild Exhibition Preview Party – Thursday, September 29, 6p.m. – 8p.m.

Help the Briscoe kick off a fall steeped in the natural beauty of the American West with Michael Duchemin, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Briscoe. The event includes complimentary beer, wine, specialty cocktails and light bites. The event is $20 for museum members and free for Contributing and President’s Society membership tiers. Museum members may upgrade their membership by calling 210.299.4499. Nonmembers may purchase tickets for $30. Tickets are available online. 

• A Life In The Wild Urban Nature Walk, Animal Tracks and Pollinator Plants

Saturday, October 1, 10:30a.m. – 11:15a.m. Nature Walk; 11:30a.m. – 12:30p.m., Activity

Discover nature in the heart of San Antonio. Join Mitchell Lake Audubon Center educators as they lead you on a nature walk through the Briscoe Museum’s McNutt Sculpture Garden. After the walk, learn about animals you might have seen in your own backyard, how to match them to their tracks, and create your own track to take home. Then learn how pollinator plants help out these animals and other wildlife while making your own paper pot to fill with a nectar plant to benefit the visitors to your space. The nature walk and activities are included with museum general admission.

David J. Wagner, L.L.C, in partnership with Thomas D. Mangelsen, Inc., is producing The Thomas D. Mangelsen – A Life In The Wild tour. This exhibition is supported in part by Jan McCaleb Elliott, the Greehey Family Foundation, and Jessica Elliott Middleton.